Apologies for the title, first off. Chalky just finds this line (from The Highlanders, to be precise) to be very funny. Nothing happened between the friends and Mr. Levene (God forbid) and we would just like to state that before going any further.

Anyway. Dufus was off home for the holidays (again) and wasn't able to attend a once in a lifetime signing opportunity with Mr. John Levene a.k.a. Sergeant Benton.

(Actually, it transpired that Dufus found another once in a lifetime opportunity to meet Mr. John Levene at the Stamp Centre - read D..Tries for a Post in UNIT to discover the whole story)

Chalky and Shirt, however, were not going to miss the chance (although Chalky had had a near miss when his holiday to Cornwall looked like it might clash. Fortunately, it didn't and he was able to visit Goonhilly and see if he could find Nick Pegg or Colin Baker in the week prior to meeting Mr. Levene).

Trotting up to 7th Galaxy, the lads started early, conscious of the fact that the queue might get rather long.

Having bought a rather fetching photo of Mr. Levene in Sergeant Benton guise, and laden with various covers (including some for Dufus) they joined the line.

Time in the queue is often spent discussing the latest Who offerings or chatting about Dufus's inane attempts to seem professional at work.

However, this signing was something special.

In the shop, both Chalky and Shirt had noticed, with some interest, the presence of a rather attractive young lady.

She stood ahead of them in the queue, but unfortunately seemed to be with a group of people, so impromptu introductions seemed inappropriate.

Anyway - it kept them occupied for a while.

Mr. Levene arrived and, contrary to the usual celebrity approach, actually zoomed down the line and began shaking everyone's hands and taking photos.

Reaching Chalky and Shirt, Mr. Levene shook Chalky's hand, declaring it to be like being a politician in an election campaign.

Suddenly, and without warning, he pulled Chalky towards him and spun him round.

The look of abject terror on Chalky's face was captured by Shirt's camera (the reason for Mr. Levene's sudden assault) and much amusement derived from it.

The signing began and when Chalky reached the front, he presented Mr. Levene with his items and then asked for a photo (one where he might actually be smiling).

Mr. Levene obliged but Shirt's camera refused to flash. Another attempt, but still no flash. After another attempt, Mr. Levene suggested he signed Shirt's items and came back to the photo in a moment.

This done, Chalky took a photo of Shirt with no flash problems whatsoever. Shirt tried again with Chalky and - surprise surprise - no flash. After about another six attempts, the flash finally went and Chalky could leave the iron grip of Mr. Levene.

It's funny, but the only other really mad companion the trio had ever met was Katy Manning. Odd that the slightly bizarre Mr. Levene should be a co-star of her's, isn't it?